Sampling

Where did the weekend go? I spent yesterday out on the motorcycle and it was pretty awesome to be back on the bike again after all the chaos of the past couple weeks. It was just a little trip in and around Waterloo but it was still pretty fun.

There has been lots of sampling going on here at the shop, both sample knitting and sample spinning. I cracked into one of my fibre purchases from the Knitters’ Fair:

70% merino wool, 30% seacell fibre from The Black Lamb.

I had made a deal with myself that the only thing I’d buy at the Fair would be spinning fibre, as obviously yarn shopping was not on the menu! Over last winter and this summer I basically whittled my stash of beautiful things to spin down to almost nothing, so it seemed reasonable to pick up a few lovely things to spin at the show. So far I’m having fun:

I’m spinning with a 2 ply sport weight in mind, and it’s going reasonably well so far. I’m using a short draw worsted method for this particular preparation, so it’s really bring out the shine in the yarn. I can’t wait to ply up a little bit to see if it turns out as I expect.

I’ve discovered that it’s very hard to take a picture of a hand-knit hat when that hat happens to be on one’s own head. I wanted to show off two different hats that have found there way into the shop recently, but the camera is confounding me at the moment. Angela was kind enough to knit a hat for the shop out of Jared Flood’s new book, Made in Brooklyn, but it only really makes sense when it’s on a human head.

Pattern: Quincy by Jared Flood, Classic Elite #9108 Made In Brooklyn
Needles: 5.5mm 16″ circ and 5.5mm dpns
Yarn: 1 skein Manos Wool Clasica, color 703 (there was tons of this wool left over at the end, probably enough for a pair of fingerless mittens.)

This is the most interesting execution of a hat I have seen in a long time, using a moebius-like construction as its base and an I-cord edging to make everything look quite tidy. It took Angela and I a little while and a little tea to figure out how to pick up the stitches for the crown but the result is definitely worth it.

The other hat is tough to photograph mostly due to color, not construction.

Pattern: Odessa(ravelry link) by Grumperina
Yarn: Manos Silk Blend, Color 3105
Needles 3.75 and 4mm

This pattern is an old favourite from back when Magknits was still running. I knit it once before for a friend but I had never attempted the beads, so it was fun to actually work the pattern as written, beads and all. Apparently it looks good on me because I sold the yarn for it to two different people almost immediately after I’d finished it. I think this one will be a favourite this fall and winter…

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